Networking architectures have grown increasingly complex in communication environments. This complexity has resulted in numerous protocols being implemented to ensure that network elements and packets are synchronized via some clock source. There is an emerging need to distribute accurate time and frequency over packet switched networks for a variety of applications.
When offering time and/or frequency transport from a customer over one or more service provider networks, or between network domains within a large enterprise, inter and intra domain issues typically arise. For example, a service provider may synchronize its own network to one clock source, but be required to transport time from a different source [and time-scale] over its network, as part of a contracted service. Traversing multiple domains also introduces new security problems and demands on equipment. For example, ‘on-path hardware support’ for time-stamping may exist for aiding time transport, but hardware support for authenticating the timestamp in transit (as an atomic operation or one that adjusts for time variants of the computed and applied hash) may not.
Hence, the ability to offer a system or a protocol that offers an effective synchronization for network communications and elements (without hindering system speeds, creating unnecessary overhead, or overtaxing processing capabilities of network components) provides a significant challenge to network designers, component manufacturers, service providers, and system administrators alike.